12.13.2013

Gil Scott-Heron and other anti-apartheid artists unite to Liberate Mandela

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Just
went on a Gil Scott-Heron Binge and listened to 49 selections of his work - what a
great trip - I forgot how erudite my brother/friend/classmate really
was, and how prophetic too.

Traditionally speaking, in Africa, Griots usually talk about the past - they recount all of our history, the history of the village, the kings, their conquests, etc. -
their memories go back centuries. Gil was definitely much more than a
Griot - because he also could see where we were headed. He could
look at where we are currently and put the finger on the pulse in such a
way that it became palpable for others as well. For example, he did a
piece called "We Almost Lost Detroit," way before Detroit's declaration
of "bankruptcy." His piece on "the Nation's Capitol, Washington DC" is
still relevant today - actually even moreso.

Intermixed with his 49 pieces (Youtube selections) were some great
pieces of work by other artists on President Mandela and South Africa
that I wanted to share with you. I think, given the fact that we are
honoring the memory of the great Nelson Mandela, it's important to note
that his liberation was an effort that took decades, sacrifices of lives, and people having to escape South Africa to avoid persecution. Many went to Kenya, Tanzania, and other countries, where they received assistance to be able to go back and fight again. Many others had to leave the country entirely, some came to the US; many were students at Lincoln University, who had an entire division for students of non-independent African nations, which included South Africa, Southwest Africa (Namibia), Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Angola, Mozambique, the Congo, Basutoland (Lesotho), and other countries tangential to South Africa, and therefore, in very real measure, under her oppression as well.

It may well have been from these classmates that Gil first became aware of the horrors in South Africa. Goodness knows we spent many a day talking about how to liberate South Africans and to take back the land. We even went to the UN to protest Ian Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, an effort to keep Rhodesia white and continue oppressing the Black people. (that's another story for another day) Most of my classmates returned home to continue the fight to liberate their country, while others became part of the United Nations, and began working from that standpoint to dismantle the heinous regime.

So when the
meanstream media tries to "whitewash" the participation and culpability
of the US, Great Britain and other countries in keeping Mandela
incarcerated; or tries to take credit for his liberation, these will
serve to set the record straight. To the US's credit, after having
finally seen the handwriting on the wall, they did come through and support the
boycott of South Africa, which served, finally, to topple the apartheid
regime. Overturning Reagan's veto was an act of defiance, and definitely has to be given credit for spelling the deathknell in apartheid.

Hope you
can listen to, and enjoy these pieces I selected for you. If not, you
can definitely log on to Youtube - Gil Scott-Heron/Johannesburg - it's a
great way to spend an evening.

Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City

Not long after Band Aid and We Are
The World focused musical attention on poverty and famine, a collection
of artists took a similar approach in the struggle against apartheid.
The initiator was Steven van Zandt - erstwhile guitarist in Bruce
Springsteen's E Street Band - who whipped up dozens of musicians to work
on the project. They included Peter Gabriel, members of U2, Springsteen
himself, Hall and Oates, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Run DMC, Lou Reed,
Jackson Browne and Keith Richards. Van Zandt wrote and produced the song
and it reached the top 40 in several European nations, though not in
the US.

Sun City is a large casino resort in the north-west of
South Africa. During the apartheid years it was located in 'independent'
state of Bophuthatswana, a phoney political entity that enabled white
South Africans to visit a casino, gamble and attend strip shows, even
though these activities were illegal within South Africa itself. The
United Nations placed a cultural ban on artists touring or performing in
South Africa - however many notable American and European acts ignored
this and received large sums to perform at Sun City's massive
auditorium. Amongst those to defy the ban included Linda Ronstadt,
Queen, Laura Branigan, Rod Stewart, Julio Iglesias - and, ironically,
black singers like Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick and Boney M. As a result,
Van Zandt's song continually insists that "I ain't gonna play Sun
City":

Twenty-three million can't vote 'cause they're blackWe're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the backI wanna say I, I, I ain't gonna play Sun CityI, I, I ain't gonna play Sun CityBoputhuswana is so far awayBut we know it's in South AfricaNo matter what they sayYou can't buy me, I don't care what you payDon't ask me Sun City because I ain't gonna play

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